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DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED IN THE 



UNITARIAN CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S. C. 



ON THE DAY OF 



NATIONAL FASTING, 



APPOINTED IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE DEATH OF 



PRESIDENT HARRISON. 



BY SAMUEL OILMAN, D. D 



CHARLESTON, S. C. : 
PRINTED BY B. B. HUSSEY, 48 BROAD-STREET. 



184L 



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DISCOURSE. 



2 SAMUEL, 3: 38. 

And ike king said unto his servants, Knou- yc not that there is a prince 
and a great man fallen this day in Israel 7 

The kingdom of Israel had been divided into two 

great parties, and a long war had continued between 

the house of Saul and the house of David. At 

length, Abner, the son of Ner, a man of large 

military genius and achievements, . threw the 

whole weioht of his character and exertions into the 

scale of David, and the distracted affairs of the 

kingdom were beginning to wear an aspect of 

composure and of hope, when suddenly the death of 

Abner occurred, and involved the whole nation anew 

in perplexity and gloom. The scripture, in its 

beautiful simplicity, while giving an account of these 

things, remarks, that they buried Abner in Hebron, 

(which, at that time, was the seat of government in 

Israel :) and the king lifted up his voice, and wept 

at the grave of Abner, and all the peoi)le wept. And 

the king lamented over Aljner, and all the people 

wept again over him. And the king said unto his 

servants, "Know ye not that there is a prince and a 

great man fallen this day in Israel?" 

The few facts, mv friends, which have thus been 



drawn from the sacred iKirralive, lliough all the 
accompanying circumstances are of course by no 
means exactly jmrallel to our own, yet bear so close 
a rcsemhlance to those which now convene us here, 
that the words of our text may be appropriately 
adopted as the basis of our reflections, on this very 
solemn and impressive occasion. 

Know ye not that a great man has fallen in our 
American Israel? Fear not that I am going to 
exaggerate the greatness of the late President 
II;irris()n by any studied and fletermined eulogy, 
1 am nerfectlv aware that nothinoj in his historv or 
temperament ever thrust him up among those tew 
giant-like and heroic prodigies, who have challenged 
and secured the admiration of mankind. I know that 
in point of fact he never, like Napuleon or Welling- 
ton, swept over continents with his armies, of which 
every battalion was a nation, while the crowded 
fates of kings and kingdoms hung suspended like 
threads at the point of his sword; though 1 am not 
sure that, had the same passionate ambition and the 
s.'ime force of circumstances impelled him, he might 
not have nearly emulated tho.sc world-renowned 
warriors. I am aw are, too, thai he never fulfilled a 
position likt' Washington's, at which the belter liber- 
tics and destinies of mankind looked anxiously down 
from the IVilure, biiUiing him move steadlaslly on 
ihrough enormous (lillicullies, and modestly through 
the most tempting successes, and conjuring him, by 
all th(^ interests of man. to commit no mistake — 
whili? no mistake nuis committi^d l»y that wonderful 
bein«r of serene and almost unearthly elevation. I 
am aware, also, that a creative genius like Shaks- 



5 



peare's, or a torrent eloquence like Chatham's, or 
any similar intense and specific manifestation of 
power could by no means be ascribed to the deceased 
favorite of the nation. 

Yet still, with all these concessions, it remains 
widely true, that we come this day to commemorate 
and mourn a great man. Various are the elements 
of greatness — various its combinations — various its 
developments. If there is greatness in the hghtning 
which rives down the granite head of a mountain ; 
if there is greatness in the headlonsf, concentrated 
flood of Niagara, there is also greatness in the silent 
oak, with its outstretched, balanced arms — its sturdy 
heart — its combination of various elements, (sepa- 
rately, perhaps, not striking,) into one majestic and 
beautiful whole — its quiet waiting until it can be 
applied to some good purpose. Such was the 
greatness of Harrison. It shuns not examination. 
It impresses the more deeph-, the more it is contem- 
plated. When the entire man is viewed at once ; 
his generalship — his statesmanship — his rare good 
fortune — his pure religious sensibility — his power of 
inspiring friendship — his modesty and moderation; — 
it must indeed be the jaundiced eye of party spirit 
which can see nothing extraordinary in this harmo- 
nious compound of high qualities — or which can 
imagine that the nation committed a mistake, when, 
at a moment of agitation, perplexity, and acknow- 
ledged distress, it instinctively turned to him as a 
deliverer, who should reconcile contending interests, 
seize upon the trembling, creaking helm of State, 
and guide the vessel once more into the ocean-stream 
of its destiny. 



Imle«'<i, IS It probable that a groat. Tree, ami think- 
ing people would deliberately turn lor salvation to a 
puppet ! And even allowing that a few managers of 
party might nominate Inm — allowing that he might 
have been selected as a eompromise between other 
rival candidates — y(;t how can we account for the 
fact, that just in ])roportion as his history, his charac- 
ter, and his pretensions were searched and sifted by 
partisans and f)pponcnts, just in that proportion the 
tide of his popularity rolled along, until he was borne 
up to the liighest flood-mark of his country's honor 
and confidence, on a wave more overwhelming than 
any that has risen since the era of Washington ? An 
impartial spectator would infer, without any further 
inquiry, that here must be a great man — thus warmly 
acknowlediied by an immense civilized nation to be 

•J %■' 

its type, its mirror, its representative. — \ es, even if it 
were in nothing but his simple hontstij that he were 
areat — even if the nation, uniustlv sust)icious of more 
practised and skilful politicians, looked to his jilain, 
simple, open heart for relief and repose, yet surely that 
min^hty 'heart must be worthv of a nation's tears, its 
posses.sor must be rightly numbered among the Abners 
of the earth, and W(» may well exclaim, with David, 
this day. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth — the 
faithfid fail from among the children of men ! 

But the character of our <leceased compatriot will 
endure a far stricter and more positive analysis than 
this. Assi'inhled as we now are to dwell with 
relit'ious sensibilitv on his memory, let us pass in brief 
review a few leading facts connected with his life 
and hist.(n-y, in order that the image of the man may 
be more distinctiv impressed upon our minds, and 



that we may enter more vividly upon the reflections 
and heart-lessons becoming the occasion. 

As a military leader, his celebrated victory, in the 
year 1813, places his fame on a high and enduring 
pedestal. No American, w^ho has arrived at the 
period of middle life, but remembers well the burst 
of congratulation which that victory called forth from 
one extremity of the Union to the other. It seemed 
to complete the breaking up of that seal of despon- 
jdency which the numerous disgraces and defeats of 
the preceding year by land had fastened upon the 
nation. It was no small destiny to be one of the 
instruments of so glorious a re-action, and the glory 
of the conqueror was more than doubled in this case, 
by reason of the deliverance conferred on our whole 
western territory, from one of the most alarming 
conspiracies that ever threatened a land with ruin 
and devastation. The entire Indian population of 
our borders had been animated, by certain fanatics 
among themselves, to a war of revenge and extermi- 
nation against the whites, at that time compara- 
tively sparse and defenceless. But the sagacity, 
energy, and precaution of Harrison chiefly contribu- 
ted to disperse this menacing cloud of blackness, and 
entitled him to the appellation which our western 
brethren gratefully assign to him — The Father of the 
West. 

The same appellation he had long previously 
earned in his capacity of statesman. When but a 
young man, he had entered the hall of our national 
legislature as a representative from Ohio. Until this 
time, it had been the policy of the government to 
dispose of the lands of the west only in large portions 



of 400U acres, thus tlnowuii^ the whole into the hands 
of grasping speculaU)r.s, and virtually excluding the 
poor man from tlie market. But Harrison, in spite 
of his comparative youth :ind inexperience, perceived 
that the country could alone be rapidly settled by 
oirering the lands m parcels as small as 400 acres. 
By great exertions, he procured an exchange ol the 
government, policy m this respect, and the conse- 
quence was, that the west is— what it is— a mighty 
empire, instead of a howling wilderness. ; 

If he was thus great in action and deliberation, he 
was great also in repose. Gracefully could he glide 
from the most arduous and exposed stations of public 
responsibility, into the obscure retreats of private life. 
The victorious warrior, the successful legislator, 
could sink at once into the obedient, orderly citizen, 
the plain, laborious, hospitable fanner. 

At length he was called i'rom the shade to the 
hottest glare of sun-light— summoned from the valley 
to the highest pinnacle on earth. He was there but 
a brief ^nonth. Did he manifest any greatness 
during that period ! Much, of the best and truest 
kind. Great was his moderation and self-control 
during tlu; agitations and glories of his triumph. 
Great is that concjueror who can sheathe his swonl 
in mercy at the summit of victory, yea, at the 
very moment of carrying a citadel by assault. In 
one*^ month, to soothe a whole nation— to resist the 
importunities of friends— to acciuire the respect and 
confid.-nco of opponents— to .satisfy the expectations 
of irrilateil foreign countries, without compromi.^mg 
the dignity of his own— to exhibit a childlike rever- 
ence for the constitution when the constitution itself 



9 

was almost in his power — to show, at the same time, 
as stern a personal independence as any Roman of 
old, and then, when he died, to find both parties, so 
lately in fierce conflict, spontaneously gathering and 
minglmg one common stream of tears over his grave ; 
all this, for one man, reveals surely no slight deo-ree 
of moral greatness, worthy of a nation's admiring 
commemoration. 

In the midst of all this, his capacious soul found 
room for a still higher species of greatness. He felt 
his littleness before Jehovah. He turned towards 
heaven, while the earth was ringing with his 
applauses. He leaned on the Rock of Ages, while 
his country was leaning upon him. The soldier, 
the patriot, the statesman, the triumphant candidate, 
pressed the Bible to his heart, and was the meek 
Christian ! 

We do well to honor him by these affectionate 
obsequies. It were unnatural that such a man in 
such a situation should pass unnoticed to the tomb. 
The whole nation has risen with one impulse, and by 
solemn procession, by funeral song, by merited eulogy, 
anrl by the tear of disappointment, has consecrated 
his fresh memory. Party itself has become a 
generous, forgiving, sympathising mourner. It was 
interesting to remark the similarity of emotion, of 
arrangement, of ceremony, in the most distant and 
opposite quarters of the Republic, and all without 
concert or imitation. These common sentiments 
and impulses, springing as they do from the purest 
depths of the national character, are among the things 
which still feed the patriot's fondest hope. They 
evince that we are yet one — one nation — one body — 
2 



10 



one fainily; unci thai geographical and other 
disliiiclions — climate — rnountain — shore — pursuit — 
ditlureuce of onijiii — dirtcrciicc ot religion — can 
never avail to impair the crrowlh of that blessed 
confraternity, which at (jrice expaiuls with our 
general liherty, and is kml hy our constitution 
and laws. 

Bui, must the induli^ence of these national sympa- 
thies be only for a moment ? Shall the death oi' the 
sreat and jzood Harrison, the whole and true-hearted 
American, he sullered to have taken place without 
some righteous and ap[)ropriale imj)rovement I 
Shall the formal ceremony be all the honor that we 
pay to his memory ? Shall ihe lessons that speak 
out from his closing tomb iall unheeded on our ears! 
Lei it not be so, Americans ! Ye are moral agents. 
Ye are not passive machines. \e are not stupid 
starers at deceased monarchy, lying in velvet state. 
In losing your chief, ye hav<^ lost a brother, an eijual. 
His death comes closely home to every one ol you. 
for he but held the sovereignty of which ye are every 
one partakers. The death of an hereditary monarch 
may be a lesson toother monarchs, but it is hardly a 
lesson to his subjects. His condilion is loo tar 
rcmoLe fioin llicirs to bring home to their hearts a 
close and personal sense of their morlality. They 
wonder — lli 'V wet«p — Uun* mourn, ]icrhaj)s — but it 
is like weeping at a lragod\. l)ealh, in such 
circumstances, seems too dist.inl, too high, too 
ima'onarv for a real and vivid svmpathv. .Not so, 
however, when the elective President of a Republic 
ceases lo breathe. Then the i)aralysing shock is felt 
equally through the very humblest and farthest 



11 

members. The lesson of mortality touches all. It 
says to all : " Behold how quickly your highest 
prerogative may pass away. Your breath has made 
a sovereign : a breath, stronger than yours, has 
unmade, and swept him down. Now see, feel, and 
learn, the tenure by which ye hold all earthly bless- 
ings. Your liberty, your property, your power, your 
life, you proudly transferred to a favorite deposi- 
tary. The depositary himself has gone, and can the 
blessings then be secure ? What your favorite was, 
ye are ! — fragile, — and mortal !" 

Americans ! listen to a few great truths that come 
to you, not, indeed, originated by this evenc, but 
startlingly developed, stamped, and sanctified by the 
death of the first of voar Presidents who was ever so 
removed from the office. One of these truths is this. 
Your Politics are too vehement, eager, passionate, and 
absorbing. You give them a disproportionate share of 
your attention and affections. You make them too 
much the scale of merit and excellence. Your talen- 
ted and promising young men mostly look for politi- 
cal distinction, and leave the other prizes and functions 
of life to be fought for by less prominent and dazzling 
minds. You rush into this turbulent field with all the 
excitement of gamblers, determined on triumj^h, 
cost it what it niay, and thinking it the best and 
sweetest thing in life to get a majority of votes, no 
matter how — no matter from whom, though it were 
the very refuse of creation, men whom you despise 
from your inmiost heart, and would disdain to bow or 
speak to, on the next day after the contest. It is 
owing to these unnatural and misplaced ardors that 
exaggeration in politics is the order of the day. 



"The country will be ruined by thexe measures," cries 
one parlv: " 'J'lie couniiy will be ruined by those," 
echoes another — whilf in the nican time the country 
floats proudly along, or, it' she goes tu ruin, it is not sf> 
nmch from measures as from public yeculation — trom 
abused credit — iVom extravagance in private life, — 
from the Inrv and biaotrv of party spirit, which 
treats an honest opinion as a crime, and sports witli 
the profi)undest and most diHicult (|uestions in politi- 
cal science, as il they were self-evident to bovs. 
Any coarse of conduct which uill ruin an individual 
will surelv ruin a nation, unless the old maxim is 
reversed, that the whole is composed of its parts. 
But a^ain, so violent are the inconsistencies of the 
human character, that in s|)ifc of this intense and 
outraseous interest in politics, there are few who 
tndy ieel their solemn political responsibilities. Your 
vote makes you a sovereiuni — you wield no contempt- 
ible portion of the wt-al or woe ol tho country — in 
fact, your single suffrage may decide the happiness 
or misery of millions, and do you act out this potent 
sovereignty \ D ) vou diligently accomplish your- 
selves for the discharge of this lolly function \ Oh, 
would that all the interest, the zeal, the passion, the 
time, which arc <'Xj)ended on mere j)ersonal aiul 
j)arty politics — on playing iht? game — might be 
devoted to the study ot pihiciplfs ; to the acc|uire- 
ment and dill'usion of information ; to the exercise of 
a rifditetnis i/i/luc/ur ; ami to the niaintenanrr of that 
hiu'h toiK- of character in every individual, which, 
collected in the aggregate, would indeed amount to 
national <lignity. glory, and power. Americans! 
nothing short of this elevated slantlard can ever be 



13 

consistent with the perpetuity of your institutions, or 
the salvation of the nation. It is too late in the day, 
in this country at least, to inquire which form of 
government is best. Here we are — and we cannot 
help ourselves; we are all born democrats, in spite of 
theories, in spite of resistance — and nothing but the 
chaos of revolution, blood, misery, and crime can 
ever shake or torment us back into more aristocratic 
modes of polity. Now, therefore, our great and only 
object must be, to carry out the idea of pure and 
perfect republicanism. And, blessed be God, the 
thing is not impracticable or essentially absurd. For 
who compose a dem^ocracy ? men — men — with beat- 
ing hearts and living minds. Creatures of God they 
are ! Capable of choice — framed with a reverence 
for the good, the beautiful, the true, the right, the 
lawfully established ; and often, amidst the wildest 
excesses of republicanism, acknowledging the supre- 
macy of the aristocracy of virtue, the aristocracy of 
talent, the aristocracy of character, and of righteously 
acquired property. 

Let politicians remember these things, when they 
address themselves as candidates for constituencies. 
Let them remember that there is an estimable, as 
well as a corruptible side of human nature. As 
republicans, we must learn to respect each other 
more. We must not consider men as merely thino^s 
with votes in their hands, and worth just so much as 
it will cost to purchase, or persuade, or threatf^n them 
to our purposes. We must reverence the sovereignty 
that dwells in them, as well as economise and perfect 
the sovereignty that dwells in ourselves. For in 
neither case is that sovereignty infinitesimally divi- 



1 1 

(IlmI. or an i"nigiiiary attribute, l)ut positive, practical, 
liviiii^, acii:ipr, every day, and c:«pal)U', cillu'r of a 
^l()ric)lJs dcsiiiiv on flio one liaiid, or ol imioiiiinious 
disastrr on ilic (Jllit-r. Man, endowed with the 
power of snfT'ra'_"\ i^ indeed a kind of god on earth— 
a inessi'ni'er ol uoojI or evd. 'Vhi- possession of so 
vital a prrrogative is suilicient to make every one 
who hears it, treuilile with sohcilnde and awe. If 
ever il hecomcs a man to pray — lo pray earnestly 
for wisdom, liulit, and guidance, it is at the momsnt 
ot depositing his vote in the haUol-hox. Ali I deep 
in the closet ol his home, rather than aniKh^l the 
fumes and justling ot" the polls, will he meditate on 
the dntv which his country and Providence summon 
him to perlbrm. 'J'here on his knees he will say to 
the l"\ilher of lights: •' Teach, lead me, God, to 
the rii^lit. JiCt me not trille away mv own, or mv 
country's interests. Let uul mv suHVage he swayed 
by partial favoritism, or hy p^'tty resentment. Help 
me to reject the man who has smiled on, or patronises 
me, and even to vote lor him who p:isses me with 
the eye of cokl and insulting neglect, if the great 
interests ot patriotism and righteousness are at 
stake." A solitarv i)raver like this, my countrymen, 
Uii'diL conduce to better elections and more blessed 
results, than the formtd heartless (jath which is now 
administcreil and received amielst the profane, 
passionate, and strugLjling crowds that surround the 
sacri-d df'positorv f)f our liixM'ties^ 

As a n;ition, we need this Day of fasting, Uutnilia- 
tion, and Praver. Perhaps we needed the death ol 
our beloved chief magistrate himsell', to bring our 
wayward, restless, self-willed souls to a wholesome, 



15 

steadfast poise. Blacker clouds than those of this 
day's atmosphere are still gathering and roiling uioiig 
the horizon of oar country's prospects. The delicate 
and intricate questions which threaten our relations 
with the mother country, are still far from being de- 
finitively settled, and are environed with combustible 
and explosive materials on both sides of the Atlantic, 
which may yet at any time take fire, and rage with a 
fury and extent which no mortal sagacity can predict. 
At home, the National Legislature is on the point of 
assembling, summoned to an extra session by the 
difficulties and exigencies of our position. Parties 
there will be very nearly balanced. No measures 
that can be devised can be expected at once to give 
universal satisfaction. Great will be the resistance, 
formidable and numerous the objections offered to 
any proposed course of policy. Throughout the 
country at large, notwithstanding the recent very 
triumphant electoral vote, the numerical strength of 
the antagonist parties by no means presents a very 
imposing disparity. Enormous numbers and masses 
on both sides eye each other with no very complacent 
feehngs. The tide of our public prosperity runs as low 
as at any time since the distresses subsequent to the 
revolution. Commerce sits waiting and perplexed. 
Capital lies asleep and under an incubus. The 
currency — that life-blood of human intercourse — 
is deranged, and is threatened with we know not 
what new revulsions and revolutions. And to lend 
still darker strokes to the picture, crime seems of 
late to stalk abroad through the land, with a more 
bloody hand, with a more unblushing front, with 
a more incendiary torch, than have ever yet 



16 

9fnifio<i our country's annaU. Not lo hcj^hicn i 
rt'pn'Hcnliilion l>y llic enufneralion of what ni: 
be calleU our ancient, standard, habitual sii 
l>oth public and private, which at all times rend 
days of iKitional hiimilialion appropriate, sun 
enough lias lircii now .su:»i.'eHt4.'d to imprej« on evcjl 
rt'llccliiii,' and patriotic mind, the necessity of re 
izing the Mpirituai ohjecls of a national fast, which u| 
thus enunioralcd by the prophet Isaiah : " Wash yc 
make you clean ; put away the evil of your doin 
from before mine eyes: cease to do evil ; learn U) c 
well; seek judgment ; relieve the oppressed ; jud 
the fatherless; ])l(^ad for the widow. Cc^mc now ai 
let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though yoi 
sins be as scarlet, thev shall be as white as snow 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be i 
wool. If yc be wiHiug anil obedient, ye shall eat th 
good of the land : liut if ye refuse and rebel, ve sha 
be devoun-d wiih ihe sword: lor the mouth of th« 
Lord hath spoken it." 

Then may we hope for the fulfilment of thedivitu 
promise as atmounced by the same majestic seer 
*' I will restore thy judges a-; at the first, and ili^ 
counsellors ;is at the beuinninij ; afterward thou shall 
be called the city of righteousness, the faithful cityi 
/ion shall be roileemed with judgment, and liei 
converLs with righteousness." 



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